Hewlett Packard Enterprise: The Cost of Its Cycle of Life Is Clear

Shrinking your way to greatness

Following years of dubious, if not downright disastrous acquisitions (Autonomy, anyone?) by parent company HP Inc, Meg Whitman continues to un-bundle the mish-mash of businesses her predecessors assembled. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co itself only separated from HP in October, but the next step is to spin off HPE's Enterprises Services unit and to merge it with Computer Science Corporationin a tax-free transaction.

Just as Warren Buffett described in the case of investment bankers in his 2014 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, it's rather comical to see executives justifying a complete reversal in the strategy that only a few years prior was being touted as the path to greatness. Or rather, it would be comical if shareholders didn't have to pay the price.

This's how HPE CEO Meg Whitman described the planned transaction in yesterday's press release:

Enterprise Services was created by combining legacy services activities at HP and integrating the 2008 acquisition of EDS, the outsourcing services company founded by H. Ross Perot. Here is then-HP CEO Mark Hurd on that deal:

Note that in both cases, the resulting business will be "stronger," but for different reasons, naturally: versatility vs. breadth.

(To be fair to Whitman, she was not behind HP's acquisition strategy.)

Hewlett-Packard's cycle of life

Grow, acquire, stagnate, divest: Perhaps that is the cycle of life for large companies in rapidly mutating industries such as technology. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise now wants to shrink its way to growth.

I can't help but be reminded of a Dilbert cartoon strip in which the hapless boss character announces to Dilbert and two of his co-workers: "I've got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that huge companies like us can't compete against small and nimble companies. The good news is that at this rate,we'll be the smallest company around."

The facts changed

Perhaps it is simply the case that when the facts change, you change your mind. The facts certainly did change for HP as the industry changed -- and the extent of the damage wrought by its botched acquisition strategy became clear.

If it isn't clear, bear in mind that HP's purchase of EDS in 2008 was valued at $13.9 billion in enterprise value. HP Enterprise now reckons the value to its shareholders of the "spin-merger" is $8 billion:$4.5 billion attributable to the 50% stake in the combined company, a cash dividend of $1.5 billion, and the assumption of $2.5 billion in liabilities. That's a near-40% haircut, and it doesn't even account for the fact that Enterprises Services was more than just EDS's business.

Is "un-bundling" now the right strategy for HPE? The market appears to think so based on today's price action. For those not involved in the stock, though, it's an opportunity to reflect on just how much shareholder value can be destroyed during a company's cycle of life.

The article Hewlett Packard Enterprise: The Cost of Its Cycle of Life Is Clear originally appeared on Fool.com.

Alex Dumortier, CFA, has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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